por Knight00008 el Miércoles 09 Junio, 2010 5:14 am
Chapter 15 - The Disciples of Eastern Heretic
Inside the formation were the extremely shocked Wu brothers and Guo Fu; outside the formation were Da’erba and the Mongolian warriors. They dashed forward to rescue Fawang. Da’erba had terrifying strength, there were many skilled fighters within the crowd of Mongolian warriors; how could Guo Fu and the Wu brothers fight them off?
Suddenly a swaying Jinlun Fawang stood up and waved his iron wheel, the ‘qiang lang lang’ sounds were soul disturbing, his face was pale. He laughed out at the sky yet his laugh was filled with a cold and mournful feeling; the band of people all looked at each other startled and stopped their advance.
Jinlun Fawang hissed, “I have never suffered even half an injury whilst in battle in my entire life; today I actually injured myself.” He stretched out his hand and grabbed Huang Rong’s back.
Yang Guo’s chest was severely injured by Jinlun Fawang’s palm, he didn’t have any strength to stand up and crawled across the ground; when he saw Huang Rong in danger he again swept out his stick to repel this grab. But as soon as he used any strength, he spat out a pool of blood.
Huang Rong said mournfully, “Guo’er, we give in, don’t fight on, take care of yourself.”
Guo Fu raised her long sword and protected her mother.
Yang Guo quietly said, “Sister Fu, run away quickly, it’s important to tell your father about this.”
Guo Fu’s mind was in a mess, she knew her martial arts were poor but how could she leave her mother?
Jinlun Fawang swung his iron wheel slightly and the wheel collided with Guo Fu’s sword, a ‘dang’ sound was heard and a white light glimmered, the sword flew up into the air and landed in the forest.
Jinlun Fawang was about to push her out of the way and grab Huang Rong when suddenly a girl’s voice from behind said, “Wait!”
A blue green flash leapt out of the forest. She stretched out her hand to catch the sword and hurried to the middle of the pile of rocks.
Jinlun Fawang saw that her face was extremely terrifying; it looked three parts human and seven parts ghost, he has never seen such a strange face before in his life. He couldn’t stop himself from being startled and said, “Who are you?”
The young girl didn’t answer and pushed a rock in between Jinlun Fawang and Huang Rong. She said, “You’re the famous Jinlun Fawang?” Her face was ugly but her voice was gentle and tender.
Fawang said, “Correct, what is your name?”
The girl replied, “I’m a nameless young girl, you won’t know me.” As she said this, she moved another slab of stone three inches.
The sun had gone down long ago; the forest was full of darkness. Jinlun Fawang’s mind lit up and shouted, “What are you doing?” He was about to stop the girl from moving the stones when she suddenly called out, “The Horned Wooden Dragon Changes into the Overbearing Golden Dragon!”
Guo Fu and the Wu brothers were startled and they all pondered, “How does she know the changes of the formation?” But they heard her voice had a commanding tone and immediately started to move the rocks according to her instructions. Four, fives stones were moved, the scattered formation changed again.
Jinlun Fawang was alarmed and angry, he shouted, “Little girl, you dare to come and mess things around!”
He just heard her say, “The Moon Fox Turns into the Day Rabbit, the Crow of the Final Moon Shifts into the Wooden Wolf of ‘Kui’, Bat of the Earth Enters the Room of the Fire Pig.” All the things that she called out were the twenty-eight positions of ‘su’. Guo Fu and the Wu brothers felt that the way she led the formation was exactly the way that Huang Rong did while she led formations. They were delighted and used all their efforts in moving the rocks; they saw that they were about to trap Jinlun Fawang in the formation again.
Jinlun Fawang had circulated his internal energy with force to protect himself from the wound from the collision with the rock; though the injury didn’t react for now, he actually had a serious internal injury. He had no way to start kicking the stones again. He knew that in just a little while he would be trapped in the stone formation again; his disciple Da’erba was brave but he doesn’t understand the formation and so it would be difficult for him to help. He saw that Huang Rong was picking herself up, struggling to stand upright; all he needed to do was take a few steps forward and he would be able to capture her. But saving himself was more important right now; he picked up his iron wheel and sent an attack towards Wu Xiuwen’s head.
After he suffered the injury his arms had no strength; he was forcing himself to move the iron wheel. If Wu Xiuwen had a sword, he would be able to knock the wheel out of his hands. But Fawang was surrounded by a powerful air; though the stance had no force behind it, it still looked like the real thing. How could Wu Xiuwen dare to take this attack; he immediately withdrew back into the formation.
Jinlun Fawang slowly walked out of the formation and stood there in a daze for a while thinking, “I’m afraid that I’ll never get an opportunity as good as this again. Could it be that heaven is protecting the Song and stopping me from succeeding? The Wulin of the central plain have many able people; these few youngsters are already versed in both the arts and martial arts. Just they alone make strong opponents; our Mongolian and Tibetan warriors pale by comparison.” He held his chest and sighed. He turned around and walked away. Ten or so steps later, a ‘qiang lang lang’ sound was heard; the wheel had fallen to the ground as he struggled to stay up.
Da’erba was alarmed and called out, “Master!” He dashed over and held him up and said, “Master, are you alright?” Fawang frowned and didn’t reply, he stretched out his arm and leaned on his shoulder and quietly said, “What a pity! What a pity! Let’s go!” A Mongolian warrior led a horse over. Due to his injury, Jinlun Fawang had no strength to pull himself up on the horse. Da’erba used his left palm and pushed his master’s waist and helped him up on the horse. They left heading east.
The girl in blue green slowly walked towards Yang Guo. She stopped and bent down to examine his face, wanting to see how seriously injured he was. It was now deep into the night; things couldn’t be seen clearly even if it was just a distance of one inch away from your face. She went up to Yang Guo’s face and saw that his eyes were open wide, seemingly in a trance; his cheeks were red and his breathing rapid, it appeared that his injury was not light.
In this blurry state, all he saw was a pair of soft and gentle eyes in front of his face, like the way Xiao Longnu’s eyes appeared when she looked at him. It was soft and gentle, understanding and caring, he opened his arms and grabbed the girl and called out, “Gu Gu, Guo’er is hurt, don’t leave me.”
The girl in blue green was embarrassed and flustered, she struggled slightly. Yang Guo’s chest immediately suffered a flash of pain and he couldn’t stop himself from calling out ‘ai ya!”
The girl didn’t dare to struggle and quietly said, “I’m not your Gu Gu; let me go.”
Yang Guo stared at her eyes and pleaded, “Gu Gu, don’t leave me… I’m… I’m… I’m your Guo’er.”
The girl’s heart softened and said gently, “I’m not your Gu Gu.”
The sky was even darker now; the girl’s terrifying face was hidden, showing only a pair of bright pupils.
Yang Guo pulled her hand and pleaded, “You are, you are! Don’t… don’t leave me again.”
The young girl was held by him. Her body burnt up with embarrassment; she didn’t know what to do.
Suddenly Yang Guo’s mind became clear; he saw that the girl in front of him was not Xiao Longnu. He was extremely disappointed, his mind turned upside down and he fainted.
The young girl was shocked. She saw Guo Fu and the Wu brothers surrounding Huang Rong, showing concern and serving her yet Yang Guo had no one. She knew that his injury was serious, if he doesn’t take her Master’s medicine, his life will be in danger. She supported his waist and pushed and pulled him out of the formation and then slowly walked out of the forest. The skinny horse was very sharp; it recognized its master and rushed towards him. The girl put him on the horse’s back but she didn’t get on, she held the horse’s reigns and walked on.
Yang Guo was conscious one moment and in a daze the next; sometimes he thought that the person next to him was Xiao Longnu and he called out in delight; other times he found out that she wasn’t and his whole body felt as if it was in an ice cellar.
After sometime, he felt a clear fragrance enter the places where his chest was injured, it was extremely comfortable. He was startled and discovered that he was now lying on a couch, a thin blanket covered his body; he wanted to sit up but suddenly felt a severe pain going through his chest, he couldn’t move.
He turned his head and saw a girl in blue green by the window; her left hand was holding down a piece of paper, her right holding a brush, she was in the middle of doing calligraphy. Her back was towards the couch and he couldn’t see her face; her back was slender with a fine waist, extremely elegant and beautiful. He took a look around and found out that he was in the room of a thatch house; the benches, chairs, table and bed were all simple and crude, the four walls were gloomy, yet it felt peaceful and serene. Beside the bed were a long zither and a jade flute.
All he remembered was how he fought with Jinlun Fawang in the forest but his mind was a blank as to how he got to this place. He concentrated harder and recalled that he was on his horse’s back; someone was leading them, a girl. Now he remembered, the girl in front of him was that girl.
She was now concentrating on her calligraphy; he saw her arm moved lightly, her form graceful and elegant. There wasn’t a sound in the room; it felt like he had arrived in a completely different world to the heated battle he had just been in. He didn’t dare to make a noise and disturb the young girl, he just lay down on the couch peacefully; it was like settling down again after a dream, he really didn’t know what world he was in.
His mind suddenly lit up, the girl in blue green in front of him was the girl who gave him the warning on the Changan road, and later on she helped him save Lu Wushuang. There were no ties between him and her, why was she treating him so well? He couldn’t stop his mouth from opening, “Sister, so it’s you who has saved me again.”
The girl stopped her brush but she didn’t turn around, she said softly, “You can’t really say I saved you. I happened to be passing by and saw how unreasonable that Tibetan monk was, and you were injured as well…” She lowered her head slightly after she said this.
Yang Guo said, “Sister, I… I…” He was touched but his throat choked up and he couldn’t make a sound.
The young girl said, “You have a good heart; you save other people without regard for your life. I just gave a little help; it’s nothing.”
Yang Guo said, “Auntie Guo raised me, of course I had to use all my efforts in saving her when she was in danger, but sister and I…”
The young girl said, “I’m not talking about your Auntie Guo, I’m talking about Lu Wushuang sister Lu.”
Yang Guo hadn’t heard the name Lu Wushuang for a long time, when he heard her mention this name he quickly asked, “Is Miss Lu safe? Has she recovered from her injury?”
The young girl replied, “Thank you for your concern, she has recovered from her injury. You haven’t forgotten her.”
From her tone, Yang Guo could tell that she and Lu Wushuang are very close. He asked, “I wonder how sister greets Miss Lu?”
The young girl didn’t reply, she gave a subtle smile and said, “Don’t call me elder sister this, elder sister that, I’m not older than you.” After a while, she laughed and said, “I’m afraid that it’s a bit too late now to change your greeting after calling me ‘Gu Gu’ a few times.”
Yang Guo’s face went red; he knew that when he was dazed and unclear after the injury, he must have wrongly recognized her as Xiao Longnu, incessantly calling out, ‘Gu Gu’. It could be that he also said some tender and affectionate things, the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he got, he stuttered, “You… you… you’re not offended are you?”
The young girl laughed and said, “Of course I’m not offended; just rest here peacefully. You can search for your Gu Gu when you’ve recovered from your injury.” She continued, “Don’t be too worried, you’ll eventually find her.”
Those few words were affectionate and considerate and within the softness there was respect; it made a person feel at ease and happy. This was completely different to all the other girls he knew. She wasn’t like Lu Wushuang who was vivacious and wily, and even further away from the unrestrained pride of Guo Fu. Yelu Yan was straight to the point and Wanyan Ping was long-suffering and piteous. When it came to Xiao Longnu: at first she was cold as frost and unfeeling, but eventually she fell in love and all her emotions were stirred and brought forward. This girl in blue green was cultured and refined, warm and attentive. She knew that he missed his ‘Gu Gu’ so she advised him to rest peacefully first, and once he had recovered he could go and find her. He felt that being with her made him feel relaxed and calm. After she said these words she picked up her brush again.
Yang Guo said, “Sister, what is your surname?”
The girl said, “Don’t ask questions, just rest peacefully on the bed and stop thinking so much, your injury will recover quicker.”
Yang Guo said, “Fine. Actually, I knew that I was asking in vain, you wouldn’t even let me see your face let alone know your name.”
The young girl sighed and said, “My face is ugly, you’ve seen it before.”
Yang Guo said, “No…no! That’s when you had the human skin mask on.”
The young girl said, “If I’m as beautiful as your Gu Gu, why do I need to wear this mask?”
Yang Guo was pleased when she praised Xiao Longnu’s beauty, he asked, “How do you know my Gu Gu is beautiful? You’ve seen her before?”
The young girl said, “I haven’t seen her before. But the way you think about her, spell bound and completely enchanted, she must be the number one beauty in the world.”
Yang Guo sighed and said, “I long for her not because of her beauty, even if she was the ugliest woman in the world, I would still long for her like this. But… but if you see her yourself you will definitely praise her beauty even more.”
If Guo Fu or Lu Wushuang heard these words, they would definitely answer back with some chiding comment; but this young girl replied, “It must be true. Not only is she beautiful, she treats you extremely well.” After she said this, she continued on with her calligraphy.
Yang Guo looked up at the ceiling for a while, but he couldn’t stop himself from turning around and facing the slender back of the young girl. He asked, “Sister, what are you writing?”
The young girl replied, “I’m practicing calligraphy.”
Yang Guo said, “What ‘bei tie’ (beautiful calligraphy written on silk/beautifully presented calligraphy) are you copying?”
The young girl replied, “My writing is ugly, how can one describe it as a copy of a ‘bei tie’.”
Yang Guo said, “You’re too modest, I can tell it’s definitely great.”
The young girl laughed and said, “Strange, how can you tell?”
Yang Guo said, “Someone as elegant and refined as you must have calligraphy that is also elegant and refined. Sister, how about letting me look at what you’ve written?”
The young girl gave another light laugh and said, “My writing can’t see the light of day; I’ll need to ask you for lessons when you’ve recovered.”
Yang Guo secretly said, “Shameful.” He couldn’t stop himself from appreciating the lessons of literature and calligraphy that Huang Rong taught him on Peach Blossom Island. If he didn’t have that experience, he wouldn’t be able to tell what someone was writing let alone distinguish the difference between beautiful and ugly calligraphy.
As he was lost in thought, he felt a throbbing pain in his chest. Immediately he circulated his internal energy, chi flowing through his pressure points. He gradually felt comfortable and at ease and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
By the time he woke up, the sky had already gone dark. The girl had prepared a few dishes and had put them on a short table next to the bed he was on. She helped him to eat. Though the bamboo chopsticks and clay bowl were coarse implements, they were all new and specially prepared for him.
The dishes were nothing special, just ordinary vegetables, tofu, eggs and fish, but they were all cooked deliciously. Yang Guo ate three bowls of rice in one go and kept on praising her cooking. Though her face was hidden by the mask and covered her expression, her bright eyes showed signs of delight.
Yang Guo’s injury had recovered a little more by the next day. The young girl had moved a chair next to the end of the bed. She sat there and mended his long gown. She lifted up the gown and said, “How can a person like you wear something like this?” After she said this she left the room and returned will a roll of blue green fabric and started to prepare a gown according to the fitting of his old one.
From her voice and figure, she was no older than seventeen or eighteen; but not only was she like an older sister to Yang Guo, she was tender and loving to him like a mother. His mother had passed away a long time ago but today he experienced the feeling of being that child once again; he was touched and surprised and asked, “Sister, why are you treating me so well? I really can’t accept it.”
The young girl replied, “What’s so difficult about making a gown? You risked your life to save someone; that was a much harder task.”
The morning of that day passed peacefully. After midday, the girl once again sat at the table and practiced calligraphy. Yang Guo really wanted to see what she was writing but after pleading a few times she still said no. She practiced for about two hours; she wrote one piece and then thought for a while before she ripped it up and started another piece. It appeared that she couldn’t get what she wanted; she wrote a piece and then ripped it up. It seemed like she was writing some sort of martial arts manual. Eventually she gave a sigh and asked, “What do you want to eat, I’ll make something for you.”
Yang Guo had an idea and said, “I’m afraid that it might be too time consuming.”
The young girl said, “What? Tell me.”
Yang Guo said, “I want to eat zong zi (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in leaves).”
The young girl was startled and said, “What’s so hard about wrapping a few zong? I’d like to eat some myself. Do you like sweet or savory ones?”
Yang Guo said, “Whichever is fine. As long as I can eat some I’ll be satisfied, how can I be picky?”
Indeed, that night the young girl did wrap up a few zong zi for him. The sweet ones were filled with soy beans, the savory filled with ham; they were both delicious. Yang Guo ate and praised her incessantly at the same time.
The young girl sighed and said, “You really are clever, you’ve finally guessed who I am.”
Yang Guo was surprised and thought, “I haven’t guessed! How have I guessed who you are?” But his reply was, “How did you know?”
The young girl replied, “Jiangnan, my home, is famous for its zong zi; there were many things for you to pick from but you had to pick zong zi.”
Yang Guo recalled the events of years ago in Zhexi where he met the Guo couple, the fight with Li Mochou, how he became Ouyang Feng’s godson but he could not remember who this girl was.
He wanted to eat zong zi for another reason. When he finished eating, he waited for the moment when the young girl was not looking and placed a piece in his palm. When the girl collected up the chopsticks and bowls, he quickly took a piece of fabric that the girl had left behind when she was making the gown for him and attached some zong to one end and then shot it out towards the pieces of torn paper on the table. When he pulled a piece back and took a look, he couldn’t stop himself from being startled. The words that were on the paper were: ‘since a gentleman has passed my eyes, the clouds are not pleasant.” That phrase was from the ‘Shi Jing’. Years ago Huang Rong had taught him the meaning of this phrase: ‘since I’ve seen such a man, how come I am not pleased?” He shot out the piece of cloth again for another piece. The same thing was written on it but the ‘since’ word was torn in half. Yang Guo’s heart ran, he had collected ten pieces of paper but the same thing was written on all of them. He carefully thought about the meaning and went off into a daydream.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps, the young girl was returning to the room. Yang Guo quickly hid the pieces of paper underneath his blanket. The young girl gathered up the rest of the pieces of paper and burned them outside.
Yang Guo thought, “She wrote ‘since a gentleman has passed my eyes’, could that gentleman be me? I’ve only spoken a few words with her, what could she see in me that she likes? Anyway, how can someone describe me as a gentleman? But if it isn’t me, who else can it be since there’s no one else around.”
Just as he was in deep thought, the girl returned to the room. She stood quietly by the window for a while and then blew out the candle.
The pale light of the moon shone through the window, covering the floor.
Yang Guo called out, “Sister.”
But the young girl did not reply and slowly left the room.
After a while, he heard the sound of a flute coming through the window. Yang Guo had seen her use a jade flute to fight with Li Mochou, her martial arts weren’t weak; her musical skills with the flute were great as well.
During his time in the Ancient Tomb, Xiao Longnu would occasionally play the zither and he would sit by the side and listen to her explain the meaning of songs; thus he was coarsely learned in music. He could tell that she was playing a tune of ‘Wu She Shang’, the song of ‘qi ao’. This song was peaceful and serene; Yang Guo had heard it a few times but he didn’t love it. He heard that she kept on repeating the first five phrases, ‘Looking into the distance of the mysterious Qi, the green bamboo aplenty, there’s a gentleman, like a clean cut, polished and carved jade.’ Whether it’s high or low, whether there are sudden drops and rises, the tunes are variations of these five phrases, winding and drowning in its meanings. Yang Guo knew that these five phrases also came from the ‘Shi Jing’, it praises the elegance of a male, cut and polished elegantly like the smoothness of beautiful jade.
Yang Guo listened for a while and couldn’t stop himself from quietly reciting, “Looking into the distance of the mysterious Qi, the green bamboo aplenty…” The flute suddenly stopped after these two phrases.
Yang Guo was startled and lamented his actions, “She was playing the flute to comfort herself; by quietly reciting those lines I showed that I understood what she was thinking, that is a bit too impolite.”
When the young girl brought breakfast in the next morning, she saw that Yang Guo was wearing the human skin mask, she was taken aback, and then laughed and she said, “Why are you wearing that?”
Yang Guo said, “You gave this to me; you don’t want to show your true face so I’m wearing this.”
The young girl said calmly, “That’s fine.” After she said this she placed the breakfast down and left the room; she didn’t say anything else to him that day.
Yang Guo was feeling uneasy; he was afraid that he had offended her and wanted to say a few apologetic words. She didn’t stop in the room for the rest of the day. Later on during the evening, she waited for Yang Guo to finish eating supper before returning to collect the bowls and chopsticks; as she was about to leave, Yang Guo said, “Sister, you play the flute really well, can you play a tune for me?”
The young girl gave a subtle moan and then said, “Fine.” She left the room and collected her jade flute. She returned and sat by Yang Guo’s bed, playing a tune on the flute. This time she played the song ‘Ying Xian Ke’ (Meeting the Divine Guest), it was a graceful and joyous tune, a song that greets a guest.
Yang Guo thought, “So your flute also wear’s a mask, not willing to show the song that is in your heart.”
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the midst of the flute’s music; someone was hurrying towards this place. The young girl placed the flute down and went to the door, calling out, “Cousin!”
Someone rushed to the house and was panting as they said, “Cousin, that witch has picked up our traces and she’s on her way now; let’s go!”
Yang Guo was pleased when he heard Lu Wushuang’s voice, but he was alarmed when he heard that witch Li Mochou was on the way. He then thought, “So that girl is Wifey’s cousin.”
He heard the young girl say, “Someone’s injured and is recuperating inside.”
Lu Wushuang said, “Who?”
The young girl replied, “The person that saved your life.”
Lu Wushuang replied, “Sha Dan! He’s… he’s in there!! She dashed into the room as she said this.
The joy and delight on her face could be seen in the moonlight; she called out, “Sha Dan, Sha Dan! How come you’re here? This time, it seems like it’s your turn to be the injured one.”
Yang Guo said, “Wifey…” He could only say one word before he thought about the elegant and refined young girl in blue green standing aside, he stopped joking and took back his words, he asked, “How did Li Mochou find you again?”
Lu Wushuang said, “After that battle at the restaurant, you suddenly left and my cousin took me to this place to recuperate. Actually, I recovered from my wound a long time ago; I was feeling bored so I went to Xianguang for a little while. That day, I bumped into two beggars, I eavesdropped on them and heard that there was a ‘Heroes’ gathering at Da Xingguan. I hurried to Da Xingguan to take a look but by the time I got there, it had finished. I was afraid that my cousin was worrying about me so I hurried back. Outside a teashop at the town ahead, I saw that witch’s donkey, her donkey has changed but the ringing of the golden bell hasn’t…” As she got to this point, her voice trembled as she continued, “At least my time wasn’t up yet, if I had bumped into her head on, I wouldn’t have been able to see you two.”
Yang Guo said, “This girl is your cousin? She saved me but I still don’t know her name.”
The young girl replied, “I…”
Lu Wushuang suddenly stretched out her hand and pulled their masks off at the same time and said, “That witch is going to get here soon; why are you two still mucking around with these masks at a time like this?”
A bright light shone in Yang Guo’s eyes; the young girl had an oval face that sparkled, her skin glimmered like snow; though her beauty couldn’t match Xiao Longnu’s, she was still an extremely beautiful girl.
Lu Wushuang said, “She’s my cousin Cheng Ying, a disciple of the Master of Peach Blossom Island, Master Huang.”
Yang Guo bowed and greeted her, “Miss Cheng.”
Cheng Ying returned the greeting and said, “Young Hero Yang.”
Yang Guo thought, “She’s of such a young age, yet she’s actually a disciple of Island Master Huang? Counting back from Auntie Guo’s status, doesn’t that mean I’m a generation lower than her?”
Years ago when she was captured by Li Mochou and almost lost her life by the Scarlet Serpent Deity’s hand, it was Peach Blossom Island’s Island Master Huang Yaoshi who rescued her while passing by. After his daughter married, Huang Yaoshi roamed Jianghu making the world his home. He was old and by himself, so it was unavoidable that he would get lonely. When he saw that Cheng Ying was weak and had no where else to go, he couldn’t stop himself from pitying her. After he cured her poison, he took her with him. Cheng Ying served him carefully and meticulously. This was much better than the naughty, restless and unruly Huang Rong. Huang Yaoshi grew from his pity to love her and took her in as his disciple. Though Cheng Ying’s intelligence could not compare to Huang Rong’s, she was extremely careful and paid attention to everything. She studied the lesser points but she still managed to learn a considerable number of skills from Huang Yaoshi.
This year, her martial arts became able and she told her Master that she was going north to search for her cousin. On the Guanxia road, she bumped into Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang; it was she who gave the warnings along the way and she who gave news of Lu Wushuang’s capture. After the battle with Li Mochou in the restaurant with all the other youngsters, she took Lu Wushuang to a secluded place and built a hut to allow her to recuperate.
The day before, Lu Wushuang had left by herself and had not returned after a long period of time. Cheng Ying worried about her and went out in search of her. Instead of finding her, she saw Huang Rong using the stone formations to fend off Jinlun Fawang. She had learned the formations from Huang Yaoshi; although she didn’t know much, the things that she did know were learned thoroughly. And so, by coincidence, she managed to rescue Yang Guo.
Lu Wushuang said, “In a situation like this, why are you two still so formal?”
Yang Guo said, “Did Li Mochou see you eventually.”
Lu Wushuang said, “You really are na?ve! If she saw me and you weren’t there to rescue me, how would I be able to escape from her? As soon as I heard the donkey’s bell, I hid behind the teahouse; I didn’t even dare to breath. I heard her ask the manager of the teahouse if he had seen two girls, one was a little lame and the other one was an extremely ugly girl. Cousin, she said you were an ugly girl, but she didn’t know that you are the exact opposite, a beautiful girl…”
Cheng Ying’s face went slightly red and said, “Don’t talk rubbish, Young Hero Yang will laugh.”
Yang Guo said, “I can’t take a title such as Young Hero Yang; just call me Yang Guo.”
Lu Wushuang angrily said, “As soon as you saw my cousin, you’re all nice and polite; you even told her your name, yet with me you lied and messed me around.”
Yang Guo gave a light laugh and said, “You called me ‘Sha Dan’, I listened to your orders and pretended to be a ‘Sha Dan’, isn’t that obedient enough?”
Lu Wushuang pouted and said, “I’ll deal with you later on.” She turned around to Cheng Ying and said, “Cousin, whenever you went into town to buy things, you would wear your mask, the townspeople recognized you. The manager of the teahouse could never have dreamed that a courteous and polite Taoist priestess would have ill intentions, so of course he would tell her where we are. The witch thanked him and asked him where she can seek lodgings and then she took apprentice sister Hong to search. She has always killed people at the first light of day; it looks like we’ve got six hours.”
Cheng Ying said, “Yes. That day when she attacked cousin’s home, it was ‘yin mo mao chu fen’ (I think it’s the fourth hour).” The three of them talked about how Li Mochou killed Lu Wushuang’s parents and then realized that they had met before in Jiaxing when they were kids. The cousins recalled staying in the old kiln that Yang Guo lived in, and then remembered that they have indeed met before; they all felt a close and intimate feeling.
Yang Guo said, “That witch’s martial arts are extremely high; even if I wasn’t injured, the three of us would not be able to beat her. Let’s just leave everything as it is, leave the lamps lit and escape.”
Cheng Ying nodded and said, “We’ve got six hours left. Brother Yang’s horse has great speed and stamina, if we leave now the witch might not be able to catch up.”
Lu Wushuang said, “Sha Dan, you’re injured, can you still ride?”
Yang Guo sighed and said, “I can’t but I’ll force myself; at least it’s better than falling into the hands of that witch.”
Lu Wushuang said, “We’ve only got one horse. Cousin, take Sha Dan and head west, I’ll head east and lure her away.”
Cheng Ying’s face went slightly red. She said, “No, you go with brother Yang. I don’t have any ties or debts with Li Mochou, even if I do fall into her hands, she might not harm me; if you fall into her hands, you’ll suffer.”
Lu Wushuang said, “She came for me, if she sees me with him, won’t his life be lost in vain because of me?”
The cousins reasoned with each other, trying to push the other into accompanying Yang Guo in escaping.
Yang Guo was extremely touched by this, these two girls were filled with loyalty, yet in this danger they were both willing to risk their lives for him; even if I die at the hands of this witch, my life wouldn’t exactly have been lived for no purpose.
He then heard Lu Wushuang ask, “Sha Dan, say something, do you want my cousin to go with you or me?”
Before Yang Guo replied, Cheng Ying said, “Why do you keep on calling him Sha Dan this, Sha Dan that, are you not afraid of making brother Yang angry at all?”
Lu Wushuang stuck out her tongue, she laughed and said, “Look at how courteous and considerate you are to him; brother Sha would definitely want you to go with him.” Changing her greeting from ‘Sha Dan’ to ‘Brother Sha’ was her way of showing her sincerity.
Cheng Ying’s face was distinctly white and it was very easy to make her blush, so when Lu Wushuang said this, Cheng Ying’s face immediately turned red as a rose. She gave a slight laugh and said, “He calls you ‘Wifey’, doesn’t he? How can the wife not go along with him?”
This time it was Lu Wushuang’s turn to blush. She stretched out her hand and tried to tickle Cheng Ying; Cheng Ying turned around and leapt away. In a short while, the room felt as if a gentle relaxing breeze was blowing through the room, the three of them didn’t appear to be as worried and frightened as they were at the start.
Yang Guo thought, “If Miss Cheng escapes with me, then Wifey’s life would be in danger. If Wifey goes with me, then Miss Cheng would be in extreme danger.” He said, “I am extremely touched by the way you two treat me. I say that you two should escape and let me handle the witch. My master and she are apprentice sisters; she would still have some respect towards that relationship. Not only that, she’s afraid of my master, she wouldn’t dare to do anything to me…”
Before he finished, Lu Wushuang interrupted, “That won’t do…that won’t do.”
Yang Guo knew that the two would not abandon the other so he said clearly, “The three of us will escape together. If we do encounter that witch then we’ll fight for our lives; whether we live or die, let the heavens decide.”
Lu Wushuang clapped her hands and said, “Fine, let’s do that.”
Cheng Ying said grimly, “That witch comes and goes like the wind, if the three of us travel together, she will definitely catch up with us. We’re going to fight with her on the way so why don’t we remain here and wait for her to come when she’s exhausted.”
Yang Guo said, “That’s right. Sister knows how to use formations, she could even trap that monk Jinlun Fawang, the Scarlet Serpent Deity may not be able to break through it.”
Once he said this, the three’s eyes lit up softly.
Cheng Ying said, “That formation was set up by Mrs. Guo, I just added a few variations to it, I can never set something up like that. We’ll do our best and let fate decide. Cousin, come and help me.”
Yang Guo thought, “When Auntie Guo taught me the formation, I could only remember ten or so different types and it could only be used to lure the rusty Jinlun Fawang into the formation; it would have no use in blocking that heaven hating and world resenting Li Mochou. This type of art is extremely complicated; to be well versed in it requires at least one year’s worth of work. Miss Cheng is young so of course the things that she has learned cannot compare with Auntie Guo, she wasn’t trying to be modest. But no matter how simple and crude her formation is, it’s better than nothing.”
The two girls picked up an iron shovel and a hoe, they went outside and started to dig up earth and move stones as they started to set up the formation. They had worked urgently for two hours when the faint calls of cockerels could be heard from faraway. Cheng Ying’s head was covered with sweat as she looked at her efforts. She saw that her formation was miles apart from the rock formation that Huang Rong had set up; she was slightly depressed as she thought, “Mrs. Guo’s talents exceeds mine by a hundred times over. It really would be extremely difficult to try to fend off the Scarlet Serpent Deity with such a coarse earth formation.” She was afraid that her cousin and Yang Guo would get depressed about it so she did not tell them her thoughts.
Under the moonlight, Lu Wushuang saw something was wrong with her cousin and knew that her cousin wasn’t completely confident. She took out a book from her pockets and returned to the hut and handed the book over to Yang Guo. She said, “Sha Dan, this is my master’s ‘Five Poison Codex’.”
Yang Guo shivered slightly at the sight of the blood covered book.
Lu Wushuang said, “I lied to her about the book falling into the Beggar Clan’s hands; if she catches me she will definitely search me and discover the book. Take a good look and once you’ve memorized it, burn it.” She had never talked in a serious manner with Yang Guo before, but she had no interest in joking around in this time of danger. Yang Guo saw her expression was bleak and just nodded and accepted the book.
Lu Wushuang also took out a handkerchief and quietly said to him, “If you’re unlucky and fall into the hands of that witch, when she wants to take your life give this handkerchief to her.”
Yang Guo saw that one side of the handkerchief looked that it was torn from somewhere, the embroidered red flower on the handkerchief was torn in half, he didn’t know what she meant by this and was startled, he did not take it and asked, “What is this?”
Lu Wushuang, “I’m asking you to give this to her, are you going to promise me?”
Yang Guo nodded and placed it by the side of the pillow. Lu Wushuang picked it up and put it in his pockets and whispered, “Don’t let my cousin know.” She suddenly smelt the manly scent on him and remembered how he undressed her and helped her fix her broken rib in place on the Guanxia road. And how they slept on the same bed; her heart stirred and she stared at him in a trance before turning around and leaving the room.
Yang Guo saw that her eyes were filled with boundless love, his heart raced. He opened the ‘Five Poison Codex’ and flipped through a few pages and remembered the antidote to the “Five Poison Palm” and the “Soul Freezing Silver Needles”. He thought, “These two antidotes are both extremely hard to create but if I don’t die today, these two antidotes will eventually have a use later.”
He heard the hut’s door creak as someone pushed opened the door. He raised his head and saw Cheng Ying with red cheeks, she came over to the bed and he could see pearls of sweat on her forehead. Her breathing was slightly fast. She said, “Brother Yang, the earth formation that I have set outside is not good enough to hold back the Scarlet Serpent Deity.” She then took out a handkerchief from her pockets and offered it to him. She continued, “If she breaks through and enters the house, give this to her.”
Yang Guo saw that it was only half a handkerchief, the decoration and quality was the same as the one that Lu Wushuang gave him. He was surprised and raised his head, his eyes met hers and he saw eyes that glistened with tears, she was embarrassed and pleased at the same time. He was about to ask further when Cheng Ying suddenly blushed and whispered, “Whatever you do, don’t let my cousin know about this.” When she finished, she swiftly exited.
Yang Guo took out the handkerchief that Lu Wushuang gave him and lifted it up. Indeed, the two pieces of handkerchief came from the same one; the handkerchief was old, the white silk was now a pale yellow colour, but the embroidered red flowers were still as beautiful as before. He looked at the handkerchiefs and knew that there was something behind this. Why did the two of them each give half the handkerchief to me? Why did they want me to give it to Li Mochou? Why did they want to keep the fact they gave the handkerchief to me away from each other? Why was it that when they handed the handkerchief over to me, their faces were filled with awkwardness and embarrassment?
He sat on the bed, thinking to himself in a trance. He heard the faraway faint calls of a cockerel followed by music from a flute, he knew that Cheng Ying had finished setting up the formation and was now playing the flute to comfort herself. She was playing the song ‘Liu Bo’ (Flowing Waves). The flute was soft and gentle, there was no sorrow within the music, and instead there was a soothing feeling, like the feeling of being carefree. Yang Guo listened for a little while and quietly followed along with it.
Lu Wushuang sat behind the pile of earth and listened to her cousin’s flute and Yang Guo following along to it. Dawn was gradually approaching in the east. She thought, “My master will be here very shortly, my life won’t be able to pass this hour. I hope that when master sees the handkerchief pieces, she will spare cousin and him, the two of them…”
Lu Wushuang had always been sharp and astute; her cousin had always given her some degree of leeway ever since they were kids. But in the face of danger, she truly hoped that Yang Guo would be able to avoid harm. She loved him in her heart and secretly wished that he would be able to escape, even if he married her cousin, she would have no regrets in death.
Just as she was thinking about this, she raised her head suddenly and saw a Taoist priestess dressed in apricot yellow standing outside the earth formation. Her right hand held a fly whisk, her gown fluttering in the wind; it was her master Li Mochou.
Lu Wushuang trembled. She picked up her sword and stood up. Li Mochou stood there without moving, just listening with her ears.
When she heard the flute and song, she recalled events of years ago when she was playing music along with Lu Zhanyuan. One played a flute, the other a panpipe, this song ‘Liu Bo’ was the song that they used to play.
This was twenty years ago; now the music was of old yet for her there was ‘no secret exchange of the lover under the moon and wind’. When she heard the soft and tender tune of the flute and song, she felt pain and sorrow and eventually couldn’t stop herself from crying.
Lu Wushuang could not have expected this sorrowful crying by her master; she had always known her to be a ruthless killer, where did this gentle and tender side come from? She has come here to kill, how come she’s crying? But her cries were extremely sorrowful and somber; she couldn’t stop her heart from suffering the sadness.
Yang Guo and Cheng Ying were startled when they heard the crying of Li Mochou and the song became disorganized.
Li Mochou had a thought and suddenly started to sing, her voice graceful and mournful, she sang:
“O mortals, what is love? That binds beyond life on earth?
To all corners, as pair we fly... braving summer and winter, by and by...
Union is bliss, parting is woe, agony is boundless, for a lovelorn soul, sweetheart...
Give me word, a trail of clouds drifting forward...
And mountains capped with snow, whither shall my lonesome shadow go?”
The flute was originally joyous, but Li Mochou’s song was filled with sorrow, her tone mournful, it was completely different from the tune of ‘Liu Bo’. The voice became quieter, but the quieter it got, the higher it got.
Cheng Ying was slightly disturbed, she actually began to follow the song from ‘union is bliss’ and by ‘parting is woe’, she could no longer stop herself from following her. She was alarmed and quickly changed the tune, but the music from a flute is peaceful and serene but her internal energy was shallow, she could not produce a high tune to subdue the song of Li Mochou. She stumbled slightly and headed into the hut. She placed the jade flute down and sat aside. She began to play the zither. Yang Guo also started to sing to help.
Li Mochou’s song was becoming more and more mournful; Cheng Ying’s strings were producing higher and higher notes, a ‘zheng’ sound was heard as the first ‘zheng’ string on the zither suddenly snapped.
Cheng Ying was startled and her fingers became slightly disorganized, the zither’s second ‘yu’ string snapped. Li Mochou’s prolonged song was filled with tears, the third ‘gong’ string also snapped. Huang Yaoshi taught Cheng Ying the flute and zither; though she learned from a great master she was still young, her abilities with them were not profound.
Li Mochou had originally wanted to take the chance, when the opponent was disturbed and distracted with the broken strings, to break straight through. But she thought that, although the earth formation outside the hut seemed to be in a mess, yet hidden within were the changes of the five elements. She didn’t understand this particular art and she had suffered many times in the ancient tomb, there were some worries in her mind. She suddenly had an idea; she wound around to the right and crashed through the wall in the midst of the music and song.
Cheng Ying’s earth formation was placed to protect the front of the house and it slipped her mind that the sides of the house weren’t guarded. Li Mochou slipped around the house and with her two palms crashed through the earth walls. Lu Wushuang was alarmed; she raised her sword and rushed into the house.
Yang Guo was injured and had no strength to stand up and fight, he could only lie there, not moving. Cheng Ying knew that if she fought Li Mochou she would lose her life in vain. She made a decision and forgot about life and death; she started to play the zither, a song of ‘tao yao’. It was a beautiful tune, flowing with joy. In her heart she was thinking, “I have had a life of hardships, dieing here by brother Yang’s side means at least my life hasn’t been in vain.” She looked towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo gave a subtle smile towards her, Cheng Ying was filled with joy and bliss, she sang:
“The beauty of the blossom burns brightly,
The zither flows the ocean spray,
The music carries the fragrance of flowers, the soothing spring breeze.”
The bitterness on Li Mochou’s face gradually disappeared, she asked Lu Wushuang, “Where’s the book? Was it the Beggar Clan who took it?”
Yang Guo took out the ‘Five Poison Codex’ and threw it over to her. He said, “The Beggar Clan’s Chief Huang and Chief Lu are righteous and virtuous people, what do they want with this evil book? They long ago passed down an order to Beggar Clan members to not to open even one page of this book.”
Li Mochou saw that this book was in its original condition; she knew the Beggar Clan was a righteous clan and had strict regulations; most probably they did not take a look at her book.
Yang Guo also took out the two half pieces of handkerchief from his pockets and placed it down on the end of the bed and said, “Take these handkerchiefs away!”
Li Mochou’s face changed completely, she waved her fly whisk and wrapped it around the handkerchiefs bringing them towards her. She held them in her hand, startled, her thoughts stirred, and her state of mind unstable.
Lu Wushuang and Cheng Ying looked at each other and both were red faced; they didn’t guess that the other would give a handkerchief half to Yang Guo, who now had brought them out into the open.
As one looked at the other, their hearts were filled with many thoughts and their eyes glistened. The air of death that was in the hut had now changed into an air of love. Cheng Ying’s song ‘Tao Yao’ was played with even more happiness.
Suddenly, Li Mochou tore the handkerchief in four and said, “The past is the past, why is there a need to return there?” Her hands ripped urgently for a while and then flung the pieces into the air; the pieces of the torn handkerchief fell like descending petals.
Cheng Ying was startled and after a ‘zheng’ sound, another string of the zither snapped.
Li Mochou angrily shouted, “Break another string!”
In the midst of the mournful song, the fifth ‘gen’ string did indeed snap. Li Mochou chuckled and said, “Now I’m going to make you suffer, you won’t be able to beg for your life nor death, quickly wail for me.”
The zither had two strings remaining, Cheng Ying’s abilities with a zither were ordinary and it was difficult for her to form a tune.
Li Mochou said, “Quickly play mournful notes! There is too much suffering in the world, what joy is there in living?”
Cheng Ying played two notes, although it didn’t form a tune, it was still following the music of the ‘Tao Yao’.
Li Mochou said, “Fine, I’ll first kill one of you, will you be mournful then?”
That severely toned shout caused another string of the zither to snap, she raised her fly whisk, about to strike down on Lu Wushuang’s head.
Yang Guo smiled and said, “The three of us dying together today is a much happier experience than you will have living alone in the world. Sister Ying, Sister Shuang, come over here.” Lu Wushuang and Cheng Ying went over to the bed. Yang Guo’s right hand held Lu Wushuang, his left held Cheng Ying, he smiled and said, “The three of us dying together will allow us to chat and joke on the Huang Guan path (road to underworld), isn’t that ten times better than being that evil woman?”
Lu Wushuang smiled and said, “Yes, good Sha Dan, you’re right.” Cheng Ying gave a warm smile. The two cousins were both enchanted as Yang Guo held onto their hands.
Yet Yang Guo was thinking, “It’s a pity that it isn’t Gu Gu who is by my side.” But he forced a joyful smile, he lightly pulled the two closer against his body.
Li Mochou thought, “He’s right, those three dying like this is better than living like me.” She pondered, “How can you have things that are to your advantage on this earth? I’ll make sure that you’re filled with sorrow and grief before you die.” So she lightly swung her fly whisk and with a face resembling bitter frost, she started to quietly sing. She was singing the ‘O mortals, what is love? That binds beyond life on earth?’ song; the song and tone was filled with sorrow and grief, like an abandoned woman crying, like a night ghost wailing.
The three of them held hands together as they listened, after a while, they couldn’t stop themselves from feeling hurt in their hearts. Yang Guo’s internal energy was relatively profound and wasn’t moved, his face still carried a subtle smile; Lu Wushuang was strong, she would not be easily moved; Cheng Ying however could endure no longer and tears flowed.
The longer Li Mochou sang, the quieter it became, eventually, it was as if there was no song.
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